1. Field
Embodiments described herein generally relate to network node selection in wireless networks, and in particular but not exclusively to network node selection in multi-RAT networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication systems are known in which a terminal, mobile station or user equipment (henceforth referred to as a terminal or mobile terminal for convenience) communicates wirelessly with a base station or access point (henceforth referred to as a network node for convenience) within its coverage area by use of a certain radio access technology (RAT). Examples of different radio access technologies include the 3GPP family of standards including GSM, GPRS, UMTS and LTE, as well as WiMax (IEEE802.16), CDMA and WiFi (IEEE802.11).
Often, multiple network nodes may be available in the same location. A mobile terminal may therefore be able to connect to one of several network nodes. However, the mobile terminal will typically perform a default scanning and selection process to determine an appropriate network node. In many cases, such a process can lead to quick drain of battery power as well as potentially long connection times. Furthermore, the radio access technologies and radio characteristics of the available network nodes may vary. For example, although WiFi latency may be lower than cellular latency, the consistency in latency may be better with cellular access. This may impact the performance of a requested service.
It is therefore desirable to provide improved methods, systems and apparatuses for network node selection.